Edinburgh Past And Present - The Edinburgh Website

Edinburgh Leisure

SPORT

Edinburgh has many excellent sporting facilities from rock climbing to tennis, fishing to bowling. The City council owned Edinburgh Leisure run a lot of facilities so a good place to start is their website:http://www.edinburghleisure.co.uk/index.asp

For fishing there is the Water of Leith, the canal and also the reservoirs in the Pentlands
There is also the sea!

There are many walkways that can be used for cycling and also cycle lanes on many main roads but this is not Denmark or The Netherlands!

Murrayfield is the home of Scottish rugby and the largest in Scotland. It has a capacity for over 67,000 in the all seater stadium. As well as rugby it hosts the occasional rock concert. There are many other rubgy grounds for example Boroughmuir Rugby Club in Craiglockhart.http://www.scottishrugby.org/

There are two professional football teams in Edinburgh:

Heart of Midlothian the city's oldest was formally established in 1874 and initially played their games at The Meadows. They moved to Gorgie in 1881 on a site near Wardlaw Place but moved along the road to Tynecastle in 1886 where they remain to this day.http://www.heartsfc.co.uk/

Hibernian was founded in 1875 by Irish immigrants, the name being the Roman name for Ireland. They too played their initial games in The Meadows as well as various parks around the city. In 1880 they took over a lease on a site called Hibernian Park on the site of the present Bothwell Street. In 1892 they moved nearby to a site known as Easter Road where they play to this dayhttp://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/

SHOPPING

There are various shopping centres around the city. Princes Street has all the big names and Multrees Walk just off St Andrew Sq has many designer shops such as Harvey Nichols, Luis Vuitton and Armani. George Street also has many stylish shops. William Street and Stafford Street at the West End offer many independent retailers and The Royal Mile is the place for tourist shops. South Bridge, Nicholson Street, Morningside Road and Leith Walk also have a large variety of different shops but there are many more shopping streets throughout the city.
Shopping Centres and Retail Parks

Ocean Terminal – Leith Harbour
As well as High Street stores Ocean Terminal offers restaurants and cafes, a cinema, an urban freesports facility and the Royal Yacht Britanniahttp://www.oceanterminal.com/home.asp

St James Centre – Leith Street (East End of Princes Street)
A selection of High Street stores including John Lewis. There are fast food outlets and juice bars and coffee shops.http://www.stjamesshopping.com/index.php

Meadowbank Retail Park – London Road
A small retail park which includes an M&S outlet, Gala Bingo, TK Max, Peacocks, Sainsburys and Poundstretchers. There is also a KFC.
No Website

Westside Plaza – Wester Hailes Road
A shopping centre with local type shops but also a pub, bookies, bank and bingo hall. It’s like a high street under a roof. There is also an Odeon cinema.http://www.westsideplaza.co.uk/

Hermiston Gate – Off Bypass at Sighthill and Edinburgh Park Train Station. There is also a Tram stop over the road.
A retail park with B&Q, Tescos, Rosebys, Staples, Halfords among others. Plenty parking available.http://www.hermistongait.co.uk/

For Alternative Edinburgh this website is fairly accurate but hasn’t been updated for some time. I can recommend The Black Bull pub, The Citrus Club, Henry's Cellar Bar, The Banshee and Bannermans pub although band nights take place at many different venues.http://www.nightnews.net/Club2k.htm

The Forest – Lauriston Place
"The Forest is a volunteer-run, collectively-owned, free arts and events project. We run a vegetarian café and a big block of studios and facilities to provide dedicated space for people to get involved in any creative activity imaginable. "
From the web site: